A World of Tangled Webs
by legendarycheese
Summary: Morelli announces some news, which happens to be a total lie, over supper with the Plum family, starting a chain reaction of people thinking something that's not true.
1. Deception Over Dinner

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters… they belong to Janet Evanovich._

_Spoiler Warning?: This isn't really part of any of the stories. It's not filling in any spaces. It's just a side story that doesn't really have any interaction with any of the stories._

_Rating: Beware of foul language (F word is used)_

**A World of Tangled Webs**

"**_What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive." _From the Poem, Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott**

**Chapter One: Deception over Dinner**

I had just gotten out of the shower when someone knocked on my door. I wrapped a towel around myself and looked out the peep hole. It was Joe Morelli. I slid the chain off and opened the door. He stepped in and I closed the door.

"Hey Cupcake." I rolled my eyes.

"What is it? I have to get to my parents' house before six or my mum will kill me."

"Mind if I tag along? Your mother's cooking is superb."

"Yes, I do mind. In case you haven't noticed, my mum isn't very fond of you."

"And why is that?"

"I think you know why."

"Do I?"

"I don't have time for your mind games; leave so I can get dressed."

"Alright, alright." He left my apartment and I got dressed.

Before leaving, I got a carrot stick from my fridge and fed it to Rex, my hamster. I told him where I was going and when he could expect me back, and then I grabbed my pocketbook, locked my door, and left.

My name is Stephanie Plum. I'm in my thirties and I've never been far from my home in Trenton, New Jersey. I'm 5'7'' and of a medium weight. Alright, so maybe I eat donuts more than I should, but they're impossible to resist.

I pulled up in front of my parents' house at 6:01… I was dead meat. It got out of the car and looked around, surprised to see Morelli pull up in his tan Sedan. He got out and locked his car.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I asked when he was right in front of me.

"I'm here for supper." He said, looking innocent.

"I told you… my mum doesn't like you."

"Stephanie?" A voice called. I looked around. My mum's form was silhouetted in the doorway.

"Hey Mum." I turned back to Morelli. "Get out of here."

"Stephanie, who is that with you? Is that a man? Why don't you invite him in for dinner?"

"He doesn't want to. He was just leaving."

"Thank you Mrs. Plum. That would be wonderful." Morelli started moving towards the house. I sighed and followed him. My mother was smiling at Morelli. I knew that she wasn't fond of him, but the kindness she was showing proved just how desperate she was for me to get a man and settle down. It seemed that she would settle for Morelli… he was better than nothing, after all.

Going into the dining room, we were greeted by my grandmother, Grandma Mazur. She was taken aback by Morelli.

"Stephanie," She said, looking Morelli over. "Why didn't you tell me you were inviting a handsome young man? I would have worn some lipstick."

"Grandma," I groaned.

"Alright, I understand. He's yours, so he's completely off limits." I looked at Morelli. He was trying to hide his grin.

"Grandma, he's just a friend."

"Come now Steph, there's no reason to lie. They're family after all." I threw him a look of venom.

From the dining room table, my father gave a disapproving grunt, but didn't say anything.

"What's this about not lying?" My mother asked, coming in from the kitchen, carrying a pot roast.

"Seems Stephanie has a secret for us." Grandma Mazur said, settling herself at the table.

"Oh?" My mum said, looking at me expectantly.

"Should I tell them or you?" Morelli asked.

"Be my guest." I said, wondering what he was playing at. Everyone looked at him.

"Well, I guess I should start with the most important fact," he said, a serious look on his face. He paused and everyone waited. "Steph is… pregnant."

I felt my stomach flop and my jaw drop. What the hell was Morelli trying to do to me? My father started choking on his pot roast. He pounded on his chest and coughed it up. My mother stared at the two of us speechless. Grandma Mazur leapt up from the table.

"Yippee!" She yelled. "I'd almost given up on getting great-grandchildren from you before I'm gone." Then she turned to Morelli. "This'll be your handiwork, will it?"

"I can't take all of the credit." He said.

"You," I said aggressively, poking Morelli in the chest. "Outside. Now."

"Will you excuse us?" He said before letting himself be dragged outside. I pushed him hard.

"What the hell was that?" I asked. "Did I do something wrong? Did I OFFEND you in some way?"

"Na… just thought you needed some excitement in your life."

"Excitement?" I pushed him away again. "I'm a fucking bounty hunter. Besides, I won't be able to face my family for the rest of my life. By morning, it'll be all over town."

"What's so bad about that?" He asked. I wanted to scream as loud as I could, but the neighborhood was quiet and peaceful, and it would be a shame to ruin that.

"You're a jackass, you know that?" I turned towards the house and went in. I collected my jacket and pocketbook before leaving the house. I moved towards my car.

Morelli grabbed my hand. "Hey, where're you goin'?"

"Home… I'm going home." I pulled my hand away from him. "If you touch me again, I'll shoot you where the sun does not shine." He knew that I had my gun concealed in my pocketbook so he backed off.

I slipped behind the driving wheel, shut the door, and started up the engine. I sped off, not looking back.

I was shaking from anger. Why did Morelli have to be such an ass? We'd known each other forever. He had lived two blocks over and was two years older than me. I had always been warned about the Morelli boys, but the warnings had backfired and made me more interested. I had been told that the Morelli boys could charm the pants off of any girl.

I learned that first-hand when I was sixteen…

I parked in my usual parking space and got out, locking my car behind me. I went up to my apartment and went in. Rex was on his exercise wheel, running around and around.

"Hey," I said, tapping gently on his cage. "I hope you had a better night than I did." He stopped running and looked at me, his whiskers twitching. I pulled off my clothes and donned a black tank-top and Batman pajama pants. Then I shut off all the lights, made sure my door and windows were locked, put my gun under my pillow, and climbed into bed. I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. I felt like crying… how was I going to face my parents? I was so angry at Morelli right now. I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting off into a troubled sleep.


	2. A Visitor in the Night

**Chapter Two: A Visitor in the Night**

I woke to the sound of my bedroom doorknob turning. I opened my eyes and focused right on the door. It was opening. I pretended to be asleep, keeping my eyes slightly open, slowly reaching under my pillow. A figure stood in my doorway, surrounded by shadow. It started towards me, closing the door. I sat up, swinging my gun up in one swift motion, flicking the safety off.

"Don't move." The person stopped, hands going up.

"Chill, it's me." I felt a surge of anger.

"More of a reason to shoot." I said, gritting my teeth. I didn't lower the gun. Morelli flicked on the lights.

"Come on Steph… I'm sorry. Please, can we just talk?" I sighed, lowering my gun. I flipped on the safety and shoved it under my pillow. He pulled a chair from my table over to my bed and sat down. I sat up, hugging my knees to my chest.

"What is it?"

"I'm really sorry about what I did. It was stupid and immature of me."

"You can say that again. How am I supposed to tell my family that you lied? Like they'll believe me ever again."

"It doesn't have to be a lie."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"We can make it true." He said, grinning seductively.

I screwed up my face in disgust. "Remember what I said about you touching me?"

"Vividly."

"Why did you say that anyway? You can't honestly expect me to believe that you did it so that I'd have more excitement in my life."

He shrugged. "I don't know…" He sighed. "You're just so sexy when you're mad. Besides…I hoped that someday it might be true."

"What? That I'd be pregnant?"

He nodded. "That we might be sharing that kind of information with your family."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know what I'm saying. I'm so damn confused right now."

"You're confused? How do you think I feel?"

"Couldn't tell you." He got up out of the chair and pushed it back to the table. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow." He said, shutting the lights off, and moving towards the door. He shut the door with a snap. I sat there, staring at the door in the darkness. Confusion swept through me, but I was tired and didn't want to think about this. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.


	3. The Morning After

**Chapter Three: The Morning After**

I woke the next morning when someone knocked on the door. I dragged myself out of bed and to the door. Looking through the peep hole, I saw my friend, Eddie Gazzara.

"Morning Eddie." I said, opening the door. "What's that?"

"Breakfast." He said, holding up the bags of donuts.

"Oh, I guess I'll let you in then."

"Oh, thank you." I smiled and moved aside to let him in. I closed the door and locked it. He sat down at my table while I put some coffee on. Eddie was opening the bags of donuts. I joined him at the table, and he handed me the second bag.

"So, how've you been?" I asked him, taking one out of the bag.

"I've been better. Right now I'm just kinda confused."

"About what?"

"Everything. I've been wondering if I should get a new job. Mum is looking for me to settle down."

"By the way, how are things between you and Morelli?"

"What do you mean?" I asked stunned, wondering if he had been having a chat with my mother.

"Well, you guys seem to be good friends. Is he the kind of guy you'd ever want to settle down with?"

"I don't know." I said. "I haven't really thought about it." This was a flat-out lie. I'd thought about it. I'd thought about it a lot.

"You haven't talked to my mum at all, have you?" I asked.

"No, why?"

"Just wondering."

"Is there something up between you two? You two fighting?"

"Not exactly. She just thinks something that's not true."

"Like what?" He munched on a donut.

"She's convinced that I'm pregnant."

"You aren't, are you?" He asked, choking on the donut.

"Of course not." I said.

"What made her think this?"

"It was kinda helped along by Morelli." I said, gritting my teeth.

"Oh?" He waited for me to go on, but I didn't exactly want to elaborate. He shrugged. "I guess you hate him right now, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess. He's such a pain sometimes." I sighed.

"Want me to talk to him for you?"

"No, I can handle it." I said. He was eyeing my last donut, so I handed it over, threw away the trash, and washed my hands.

"I have to take a shower. Can you let yourself out?"

"Sure. I'll see you around.

"Yeah, see you later," I went into my bathroom and undressed. After a couple of minutes, I heard the door open and then close, and I assumed that Eddie had left. When I was clean, I dressed and brushed out my wet hair. I gelled it and sprayed it until it looked semi-decent. Then I went out of my bathroom and found my apartment empty and my front door locked.

I took my gun out from under my pillow and shoved it into my pocketbook. After popping a grape into Rex's food dish, I left.

I arrived at the station and went inside. Connie was sitting at her desk, typing away at her computer. Lula was sorting through a stack of files. They looked around as I came in.

"Good morning." I said, cheerfully. Lula raised an eyebrow. She looked at Connie.

"Must be the hormones." Connie suggested. She turned to me. "I hear some congrats are in order." I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Big news like this and you don't tell us?" Lula said, indignantly.

"I didn't tell you because it's not true."

"What?"

"Morelli lied his ass off to my parents."

"Why?"

"Because he hates my guts."

"I thought you two were pretty tight." She raised an eyebrow. "I thought everything was good, if you know what I mean."

"Well, we're not, and it's not. I guess you could say it's a mutual hate."

"So, you're not pregnant?"

"No, I'm not."

"Why you so happy today then?"

"Well, I was thinking that I'd ask Ranger if he'd kill Morelli for me."

"That's an idea. But it's a pity to destroy a nice ass like Morelli's." Lula said, sighing, staring dreamily into space. I rolled my eyes, but had to agree with her. Morelli did have a nice ass.

"Have you happened to see Batman this morning?"

"No, he hasn't been around for a couple of days."

"Any idea where he is?"  
"Nope, can't help you."

I sighed. "And I don't even know where the Bat Cave is."

Batman's real name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Most of the time, we call him his street name, Ranger. I've never called him Ricardo; I know that this was his name from his files. I've never called him Batman to his face either, because I don't know how he would react to that. As for the Bat Cave, I have no idea where Ranger lives. The address in his files led me and Lula to a vacant lot when we tried to find his house. We even tried to follow Ranger home once, but it's just not possible to follow him home; I mean, he's Ranger.

"Wanna talk about this Morelli junk?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. He came over for dinner last night, even though I told him not to. My grandmother is talking about the two of us, so I tell her that we're just friends, 'cause that's what we are. Actually, I don't know if we're even that anymore. Then Morelli says something along the lines that they're part of the family, so we don't need to lie. So my mother gets into it and Morelli tells my whole family that I'm pregnant."

"Why'd he do that?" Connie asked.

"'Cause he felt like pissing me off. Give me a call if Ranger comes in."

"What are you up to today?" Lula asked. "Any ass-bustin' that you need help with?"

"I hadn't planned it out yet. But if you want, you can cruise with me."

"Later Connie." Lula said, standing up and heading for the door.

"If you see Morelli, give him a kick for me. He doesn't mess with one of my friends." Connie told Lula.

"One for you, one for me, and a couple for Stephanie." Lula assured Connie before we left.

"And I thought that I needed Ranger to kick his ass for me."

"Yeah, Girl, how foolish." Lula said. She must not have noticed the sarcasm in my voice.

When we got outside, I stopped dead, looking at the figure that was leaning against my car. My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught in my throat.


	4. Mine or Morelli's?

**Chapter Four: Mine or Morelli's?**

The man was wearing black, one of the only two colors I had ever seen him in. Black pants, black shirt, black belt, black boots, and a black jacket that I knew concealed a gun, maybe two, maybe more. His dark hair was slicked back in a long ponytail. His lips were curled in a barely there smile, which for Ranger, was pretty huge.

"Yo," I said when I could speak. He didn't say anything. His charcoal eyes were locked on me and I felt it right down to my bones.

"Hey Ranger, where've you been?" Lula asked. "Haven't seen you for a couple of days."

"Work." Ranger said simply. He stopped leaning on the car and came over to where I was still standing. "Let's talk." He said. Then he looked at Lula. "Alone." He muttered to me. "Get in the car." I nodded, my knees feeling weak. Maybe it was just me, but Ranger didn't look all that happy.

"Hey Lula, I'll be back in a little while."

"Where you going?"

"Ranger needs help with something."

"I could help too." She said, excitedly. Ranger's eyes flicked sideways at Lula.

"It's alright, Lula; it won't take long, right?" I said, looking at Ranger.

"Right." He said. Lula didn't look happy but she looked from me to Ranger and then back.

"Ah, I see what's going on. Take your time." She said. Then she turned and went back into the office.

We went over to Ranger's black Gallardo. Ranger's car was always black, and it was always expensive. I didn't know where he got his cars, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to know. I got in and Ranger settled himself behind the wheel.

He didn't look at me, and he didn't speak to me, and I was smart enough not to say anything. Ranger was in his zone; his eyes were locked on the road. He pulled into a slot at the side of the road. He shut off the engine and turned to look at me. I felt very self-conscious under his stare.

"Babe…" He said, shaking his head slowly.

"Is that all you had to say? Is that why we drove all the way over here?" I said. Sometimes Ranger's lack of words annoyed the hell out of me. He didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at me.

"You're pregnant." Ranger said. It was more of a comment than a question. I didn't say anything. I felt the anger go through my whole body. "Well…?" He finally said. "Is it mine or Morelli's?"

I had a past with both of these men in my life. Morelli and I had been off and on again for almost six months, but now we were taking a pretty extensive break. I didn't like the idea of marrying a cop, and he didn't like the idea of marrying a bounty hunter, especially one that had a knack for attracting danger.

Ranger and I had a different relationship. He was a bounty hunter, like me, but unlike me, he was really good at what he did. I felt safe with Ranger watching over me, but he still scared the hell out of me. He was silent and intense, and most of the time, I had no idea what he was thinking. I knew that Morelli wasn't happy about me working so close to Ranger, but he dealt with it as best as he could. And right now, I didn't feel guilty at all working with Ranger, because Morelli and I were in our off stage of our relationship.

"I'M NOT PREGNANT!" I yelled. "I'm going to fuckin' KILL Morelli."

"What did he do?" Ranger said, stiffening almost unnoticeably.

"He's the asshole who started this thing." I said. "He had words with my family."

"I'm going to kill the bastard." And suddenly, the idea that had been so appealing before was suddenly not sounding so good. Ranger was taking this very seriously; much more seriously than I thought he would.

"No," I said. "I can handle it." He just looked at me.

"You sure?"

"Yes. My family might do it for me anyway."

"You're family can be pretty scary." Ranger said. I rolled my eyes. Look who's talking. Rambo meets Batman.

Ranger reached over and put his hand on my cheek. I felt a thrill go through me. He traced my jaw and lowered his lips to attach to my neck. He kissed my neck, his tongue flicking out to touch it, and then he kissed the spot again. He kissed up my jaw to my lips.

"So," I said, between kisses. "When do I get to see the Bat Cave?" I felt him smile slightly against my mouth and his chest rumbled with a low, deep chuckle.

"Tonight?" He asked. I looked at him.

"Really?"

He shrugged. "For a small payment."

"That sounds fair." I said. A hint of a smile played over his lips. "Well, we'd better get back; Lula is waiting for me."

"Take our time…" He said. He was right, Lula had said that. I wrapped my arms loosely around Ranger's neck and kissed him. He kissed me back, a lot of tongue involved. I was practically in his lap. His arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me closer. His body heat was warm and comfortable through his shirt.

Ranger's pager beeped. He reached down and looked at the readout. He didn't show any expression on his face.

"We gotta get going," he said, brushing a light kiss against my lips.

"Everything alright?"

"For now." I slid off of Ranger and strapped myself in. He started the car and drove away from the side of the road.

_This be an author's note: Hope you enjoyed... review if you get a chance; I'd like to know what you think. Don't hold out on me  
either. If you think it's total crap, tell me that. I can take it, and it'll most likely make me a better writer._


	5. You and Ranger?

**Chapter Five: You and Ranger?**

Ranger dropped me off at the office and took off, heading for God-knows-where. He hadn't said anything on the ride back, and he hadn't shown anything on his face. That was something about Ranger… it's hard to get close to him when you don't know what he's feeling.

"Back so soon?" Lula asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Geeze, Lula… disappointed?"

"Well, I just figured that the two of you wanted some time alone."

Connie grinned at me. "How long has this been going on?"

"I don't think I want to share that information with you."

"You'd keep us in the dark?" Lula asked.

"No, I guess not." I said with a deep sigh. I decided that I really did want to tell them. I wasn't very good at keeping a secret, and I'd been doing it for awhile.

I let myself sink onto the sofa against the wall.

"So, what's the word?" Lula asked.

"What do you wanna know?"  
"What did he want just now?" Connie asked.

"He heard that I was pregnant. Is it impossible to keep a secret in this town?" I fell silent, thinking about the words that had just come out of my mouth. I already knew that answer… YES!

"And why was he so interested?"

"Let's just say that we've had a sexual encounter or two." Or more, I thought… but they didn't need to know that.

"Jesus H. Christ…" Connie breathed. "You could be the mother to the child of the sexiest man on Earth."

"Girl, that's crazy talk." Lula said. "He's definitely the sexiest man in the universe."

"I don't want a kid right now." I told them. "I like my life now."

"Even if it's the child of the sexiest man on Earth… I mean, in the universe?" Connie asked.

"Yeah, even then." They stared at me like I'd just sprouted another head. "Yeah, hard to believe, right?"

"There's something wrong with your head." Lula told me.

A door opened in the back of the room, and a thin man, greatly resembling a weasel stepped out and looked at me.

"Hey Vinnie." I said. Vincent Plum is my employer, and also my cousin. I blackmailed him into giving me a job, starting my career as a bounty hunter. He's some kind of sexual lunatic, but I tried not to delve so deeply into what that meant. He could be impatient with me at times when I was having trouble bringing someone in.

"What's that look mean?" I asked him. He'd been staring at me for almost a full minute.

"What the hell does Ranger see in you?" He asked, looking me over. I flipped him the bird and he grinned. But then his expression returned to seriousness. "This won't affect his work will it?"

"It hasn't so far."

"Good." He turned to go back into his office.

"What about my work? You're not going to ask if it'll affect my work?" He turned back and smiled.

"You're work can't get any worse." With this, he disappeared into his office. I stared after him, images of Vinnie suffering severe pain and misery flashing through me head.

"I hate that man with a passion." I said, turning back to the other two.

"We do too…" Connie assured me. "We're just here for the money."

This made me feel a little better.

_I'd like to fill everyone with faith that I have this all planned out in my mind, but that's just not true. The truth is that I'm making this up as I go, and I have no clue in what direction I want this story to head in. I appreciate all feedback that I have received so far, but I'd still like more. If you have a direction you'd like to see this story go in, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks for reading..._


	6. He Told Us Everything

**Chapter Six: He Told Us Everything**

The rest of my day went a little smoother than my morning, even though I got several congratulatory calls.

At five, my cell phone rang once more.

"Hello?" I answered, a little weary of who else might be calling to tell me how happy they were for me.

"Stephanie?" It was my mother. I resisted letting out a deep sigh.

"Hey Mum, what's up?"

"I just wanted to see if you were coming for supper. I'd really like you to."

"Any particular reason?"

"We had a visitor earlier today."

"Oh? Who?"

"Joseph Morelli."

"Oh great," I sighed, knowing that this couldn't be good. "What'd he want?"

"He said that he had something important to tell us, and then told us everything."

"And by everything, you mean?"

"He said that you're not really pregnant." The phone fell from my hand and clattered to the floor. After a few seconds, I snapped out of it and reached down to pick it up.

"What was that?" My mother was saying.

"Sorry… someone knocked the phone out of my hand. Joe Morelli told you that I'm not pregnant? Is this the same Joe Morelli that told you I was, or another one that I've never met?"

"Will you be coming for supper?"

"I don't know… I have some plans tonight."

"You shouldn't lie to your mother."

A sigh escaped my lips. "Fine, I'll see you at six."

"Alright, goodbye."

"Bye Mum." I disconnected and clipped the phone to my belt.

Joe Morelli had admitted to my mother that he had lied? Why would he do that? Was it possible that he's not as bad as I thought he was? There was only one way to find out the real reason he had done it… I guess I would be taking a trip downtown.

_I'd like to thank everyone that has reviewed this story. I read every review that I get, and I'm trying to make decisions based on what's written in them. The opinions of my readers are very important to me, because I want to give the people what they ask for. However, it's impossible to give EVERYONE what they want, but I'm trying my best._


	7. Forgive and Forget?

_Disclaimer: Any character you don't recognize is mine_

**Chapter Seven: Forgive and Forget?**

"Hey Steph." The officer on duty at the front desk, Quinn Cromwell, said to me when I came in. He lowered an eyebrow. "Did you blow up another car? Or is this about a dead body?"

"Actually, it's a social call. Is Morelli in?"

"I should've known… Congrats, by the way."

"Thanks." I said. "Is he in?"

"Yeah, I think he's at his desk. Go ahead back." I found Morelli at his desk. He was bent over a stack of papers, scribbling away.

I touched him on the back as way of greeting and he looked around. He looked started to see me.

"You don't have your gun with you right now, do you?"

"I don't know… I might."

He stood up. "You didn't come here to shoot me, did you?"

"I've thought about it, but no."

"I have no idea what this visit could be about then."

"I heard what you did." He stared at me, his face completely blank. "You told me parents that…"

"Oh yeah," he said. "Sorry, I'm not really on planet Earth today."

"What are you working on?" I asked, gesturing at his desk.

"Paperwork; I've got to get it all filled out and filed by the end of the week."

"Bummer." I said.

He rubbed his face. His chin was getting scraggly and it looked like he needed a haircut. But then again, he almost always looked like he needed a haircut.

"So, what can I do for you?" Morelli asked, leaning against his desk with his arms folded across his chest.

"I want to thank you for what you told my parents."

"No problemo. It was my fault in the first place." His face looked pained. "Steph, I'm really sorry. I was a jerk last night."

"Yeah, you were."

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"I might be able to forgive you, Joe, but I'm never going to forget about what you did."

"That's fair, I guess." He said.

I glanced down at my watch… 5:47. "I gotta get going. I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

"Good luck on your paperwork."

"Thanks." I went back into the main part of the police station and gave Quinn a wave before heading out to my car. I started the car and drove off towards my parent's house.

_So, for those of you who like a Morelli friendly story, Morelli is no longer in deep shit. But he's still not Steph's favorite person. Thanks for the reviews… keep up the good work._


	8. That's Too Bad

**Chapter Eight: That's Too Bad**

My mother and grandmother were waiting at the front door when I pulled up three minutes early. I locked my car and went up to greet them.

"Didn't bring anybody with you tonight?" Grandma Mazur asked, looking around my mother. I couldn't help but notice the disappointment in her voice.

"No, I think I've had enough excitement for the rest of my life."

"Well then, bring them around for me." She said. "I could always use some more excitement. I think that cop-friend of yours liked me last night."

"I'll ask him about it… see if he's interested."

"I think he's a very nice young man." Was I hearing what I thought I was? "Maybe a little rough around the edges, but every Morelli man is bound to be. It's in their genes."

"It doesn't matter." I told her. "We're not together."

"Did you break up over last night?"

"No, we haven't been together for a week and a half now."

"Oh, well come in and we'll eat."

My father was already at the dining room table when I went in. His eyes were locked on the kitchen door, waiting for his supper to be brought out. I went into the kitchen to help my mother carry the food out.

We all sat down for our meal of roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, hot rolls, and green beans. I filled my plate and began to eat.

"To tell you the truth…" My mother said to me, as though she were continuing a conversation. "I was a little disappointed when Joseph Morelli visited us this morning."

"Why's that?"

"If you were pregnant, you'd have gotten married to him."

I sighed. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"I just want a grand-kid from you." Grandma Mazur told me. "I don't care if you get married or not."

"Thanks Grandma."

Everyone looked at me as my cell phone rang. I went into the kitchen to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Yo."

"Hey Ranger. What's up?"

"Bad news, Babe."

"What is it?"

"No Bat Cave tonight."

"Work?"

"Gotta go after this guy."

"Okay. Any idea when you'll be back."

"No telling."

"I understand."

"See you when I get back."

"Yeah… bye."

"Adios." I disconnected and went back into the dining room, feeling a little disappointed.

"Were you talking to that stud-muffin, Ranger?" My grandmother asked me.

"Yes."

"Whoa…" She fanned herself with her napkin. "That is one hot man."

"Yeah… he is." I said.

_I love Grandma Mazur… she has to be my favorite character in the series (apart from Sally Sweet). You know the routine; review if you can._


End file.
